Windshield wiper with air and water supply



Dec. 23, 1952 H. SMITH ,6

I WINDSHIELD WIPER WITH AIR AND WATER SUPPLY Filed Sept. 24, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 L L- V 1: /70

Dec. 23, 1952 H. SMITH 2,622,261

' wmnsnmw WIPER WITH AIR AND WATER SUPPLY Filed Sept. 24, 1949 2 SHEETS-Sl-IEET 2 1 3 I36 I40 I6 Patented Dec. 23, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WINDSHIELD WIPER WITH AIR AND WATER SUPPLY Howard Smith, Alliance, Nebr.

Application "September 24, 1949, Serial No. 117,563

"an object of the invention to provide a windshield-wiper which is adapted to conduct hot air to a windshield for defrosting the same.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for conducting hot air to the windshield of a vehicle. 7

Still another object of the invention is to provide means for conducting washing water to the windshield of a vehicle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device for the above stated purposes, which can be employed on railway locomotives, aerov of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a frontal elevation of the windshield and rear-view'mirror washing and defrosting systems of this invention. The system is shown as applied to a truck, portions of therearview mirrors of the truck and of the body thereof being shown in full lines, other portions being shown in dotted lines, the manifold and compressed-air tank of the truck being shown in full lines. A water reservoir of this invention is shown in broken lines.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the manifold of Figure 1 together with a portion of the hot air duct of the invention.

Figure 3 is a frontal elevation of a rear-view mirror of the truck together with portions of the water duct and hot air duct cf the invention, a forward portion of the wall or casing of the mirror being broken away together-with the inner end of the mirror post.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the windshieldwiper of this invention shown with portions thereof broken away and with an end portion only of a hot air and water hose attached thereto. Figure 5 is a bottom plane view of the wiper as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a view-in-section taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a right end view of the wiper as seen from the right-hand side of Figure l.

The washing and defrosting system of this invention is particularly adapted for use on a truck such as is generally indicated at It) in Figure l, the truck being almost completely shown in dotted lines.

The truck It is preferably one of the type having a compressed-air tank l2. The tank l2 has a compressed-air outlet pipe H which latter extends to and opens into a water reservoir 16'.

A valve is is provided in the line l4 and. the valve is is preferably at any convenient position on the dashboard of the truck with its handle 20 within reach of the operator sitting behind the steering-wheel .24, shown in dotted lines.

The reservoir It has a supply of water 28 there in and a water pipe 36 is provided extending downwardly through the top of the container I5 and opening at a position near the bottom thereof. The pipe 39 extends upwardly along the side wall of the truck and across the top of the truck as seen in Figure l.

The pipe 30 is provided with a portion -32 having a valve 36 therein. The valve 36 is provided with a control handle 38 disposed within reach of the driver and from the valve 36 the portion 32 extends to a header having valves 40 and 42 at the ends and the valves are provided with handles 44, The valves 40 and 42 are disposed for controlling the flow of water through the portion 32 to two flexible hoses 46 which latter are attached to the open ends 48 of two elongated hollow windshield-wipers 50.

The wipers 50 are each provided with a tubular section or arm 52, as best seen in Figures 4 and 5. The section 52 has a slit 54 down its center for receiving a resilient elongated member which acts as a, squeegee to engage the windshield and wipe the water therefrom. It will be seen that the tubular portion 52 presses against and securely holds the member 60.

The forward end of the tube 52 is closed, being pinched together in a manner leaving a water outlet hole 58 of triangular shape.

A plurality of pairs 60 of water outlet holes are provided in the tube 52 and are'disposed in spaced apart positions along the length thereof. Each hole 60 of a pair is disposed on an opposite side of the squeegee member 60 from the other hole of the pair.

The windshield-wipers 50 are attached to oscillating arms or levers 62 of conventional construction and the latter are secured to air-motors 10 such as are conventionally used on trucks.

lhe water line 30 extends past the portion 32 to the opposite side of the truck where it joins 9, valve 89 having a control handle 82. On the other side of the valve 89 the water pipe 39 is provided with a portion 88 which extends outwardly alongside the mirror post 99 and is downturned on its rearward end as shown at 92 for causing water to cascade downwardly across the face of the mirror 94.

The pipe 39 is further provided with a portion I08 which opens upon the main portion of the pipe 39 adjacent the tank I6. The portion I90 is provided with a valve I92 therein having a control handle I 94. The rearward end of the portion I99 is disposed down-turned as at I H for directing washing water on the rearward side of the opposite rear-view mirror I I2.

The invention further includes an air duct I29 which extends from the container I2 to a valve I22 having a control handle I24. The duct I28 then extends to the right-hand side of the truck and extends downwardly between two end outlet ports of the exhaust manifold I89, the ports having outwardly extending pipe portions I94 and gaskets I35, adjacent the motor I31.

The manifold pipes I34 lead to a mixing pipe I38 as is conventional and the latter leads through a fitting I49 to the exhaust of a truck, not shown but conventional. The hot air duct I29, after entwining around the manifold pipes I34, extends upwardly to a valve i59 having a handle I52, and from there extends through a valve I69, having a, handle I82, to one of the air motors III for driving the same. Another portion of the duct I20 is shown at Iii and extends from the main section I29 through a valve I89, having a handle I82, through a duct portion and to the header of the pipe 32 which is disposed between the valves 36, 49, and 42.

Another portion of the duct Iii? extends through a valve I99, having a control lever I92, to the opposite air motor T8 of the other windshield-wiper 59.

The hot air duct portion H9 also extends through a valve 299, having a lever 292, to the left-hand rear-view mirror H2, coiling about inside the housing of the mirror and forwardly of the glass portion thereof, as best seen in Figure 3. The terminal end of the duct Ilii is preferably disposed upturned in a manner for throwing hot air upon the rearward side of the mirror. The mirror H2 is provided with a post M3 for attaching the same to the truck.

The hot air duct I 29 is further provided with a branch 259 which opens upon the main body portion of the duct I29 on the rearward side of the exhaust manifold. A valve 252 having a control lever 254 is provided in the duct 2% and the duct 259 Winds similarly about the rear-view mirror 269 on the opposite side of the truck, being also disposed for directing hot, defrosting air upon the rearward side of the mirror 289. The hot air is directed upwards for utilizing the action of gravity in directing its flow.

In operation, it will be seen that the operator of a truck equipped with this invention can direct hot, defrosting air upon the rear-view mirrors by maintaining the valves I22, I59, and 298 open. The operator can direct hot air on the windshield by maintaining the valves E22, I50, and I89 open together with the valves 49 and 42.

The operator can cause the mirrors to be defrosted by opening the valves 299 and 252 whenever the valve I22 is open. If desired, all hot air valves can be opened for normal use, the only control used being the valve I22.

For directing washing water at the windshield, the valves I8, 35, i9, and 42 should be kept open.

For directing washing water at the rear-view mirrors, the valves I8, I92, and 89 should be maintained open.

It will be seen that this invention uses compressed air for forcing water from the water reservoir I6 and employs the extreme heat of the exhaust manifold for heating defrosting air.

From the foregoing description it is thought to be obvious that a windshield-wiper constructed in accordance with my invention is particularly well adapted for use by reason of the convenience and facility with which it may be assembled and operated, and it will also be obvious that my invention is susceptible of some change and modification without departing from the principles and spirit thereof and for this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carrying out my invention in practice except as claimed.

I claim:

In a motor vehicle windshield cleaner, the combination which comprises Windshield wiper motors for use on the upper edge of a Windshield, reciprocating Wiper levers operatively connected to said motors, tubular arms having strips of resilient material mounted therein carried by said levers, said tubular arms having spaced pairs of outlet openings positioned at the sides of said strip of resilient material, a header having valves in the ends also adapted for use on the upper edge of a windshield, flexible tubes extended from the ends of the header and connected to said tubular arms for supplying air or Water, selectively, to said arms, tubes for connecting said header and wiper motors to the intake manifold of an engine of a vehicle in which the windshield is positioned, a water tank, means connecting the water tank to said header, 2, compressed air supply container, means for connecting the container to the water tank and also to the intake manifold for selectively supplying air and water to said header, said connection from the tank and container being positioned to receive heat from an exhaust manifold of said engine, and control valves in said connections.

HOWARD SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,145,159 Marsh July 6, 1915 1,448,508 Thum Mar. 13, 1923 1,843,828 McNaught Feb. 2, 1932 1,857,419 Williams May 10, 1932 1,982,345 Kirby Nov. 17, 1934 2 173.021 Longwell Sept. 12, 1939 

